Booming London food business buys six others, expands office
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A London food industry has bought office space downtown and six other food-related industries, all part of an aggressive, national growth strategy.
Nick Spina, chief executive of Ethey, which operates LiveFitFoods, discusses the acquisition of six related businesses and office space downtown from their production facility in London, Ont. on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
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A London food industry has bought office space downtown and six other food-related industries, all part of an aggressive national growth strategy.
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Ethey, the parent company of LiveFitFoods, is a food business that boasts generating zero waste as it supplies prepared meals to consumers.
Ethey has bought 1,900 square meters of space at 379 Dundas St as it merges six other businesses it recently purchased.
In addition, it is expanding its food production space at The Grove, a food hub located at Western Fair.
“We’re trying to be as big as possible and we’re making an impact in a great way. We’re serving food, reducing food waste and helping the environment through being sustainable in all ways,” said Nick Spina, chief executive and founder.
Ethey was created by Spina as the umbrella company under which the new businesses and LiveFitFoods will operate.
As for the business it has acquired, they include a low carb prepared food business, Carb Smart Express, pet food maker Puppy Gang Fresh Foods, juice maker Blank Slate Wellness, a numbered company working in transportation that has been named Ethey Logistics, and two others Spina said he cannot name yet.
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He will bring the reduced carbon footprint model of LiveFitFoods to all the new businesses. All the food box material now used is reusable or recyclable.
“It needs to happen. I’m passionate about it. Canada has a high food waste percentage and this needs to happen,” said Spina. “It’s important we have an impact on the planet.”
LiveFitFoods, supplies prepared meals for home consumers, but the food is cooked and ready to serve, making it different from other food box businesses such as Hello Fresh and Good Food. Spina boasts its packaging will keep food warm for up to three days but he said it will be delivered to most doorsteps across Canada one day after ordering, he said.
He declined comment on how much sales have increased in recent years or the dollar value of his investment in other businesses.
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“This is fantastic news. It speaks volumes about the growth in agri-food and commercial sectors,” said Kapil Lakhotia, chief executive London Economic Development Corp. “There will be more food production, more offices downtown, it’s bringing new economic activity to the city. These are the type of businesses we want to attract to the core and add to the economic activity downtown.”
Ethey has bought five commercial units on the lower level of the building.
It has about 200 staff in London, and about 70 will move to the Dundas Street offices in the fall. It has about 500 workers in total, with new acquisitions.
“It’s remarkable, and we’re just getting started,” said Spina.
His expansion into the other industries means he will also be able to offer other goods for delivery.
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When Puppy Gang Fresh Foods owners Marisa Hoskins and Sarah Tritsaris spoke with Spina, they knew it was the right fit to grow their brand. It has a strong provincial presence but sees Ethey as a strategy to grow across Canada.
“He shared our values, wanted only high quality ingredients and wants to create a sustainable company,” said Hoskins. “I don’t think we would see growth if we didn’t join Ethey.”
Both are staying on with Ethey to run the pet food business. It is now largely an e-commerce platform selling high quality fresh pet food.
“We’re seeing more and more customers asking about sustainable practices,” added Tritsaris.
Ethey has received more than $14 million in the last two years from private investors, attracted to its zero waste model and sales growth in the prepared food sector.
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Gary Vaynerchuk, chairperson of a New York-based media and communications holding company, is an investor and his support sparked coverage of Ethey in Forbes.com last year. In fact Ethey has been profiled in several business publications such as emtrepreneur.com, Wealth Inside and Food Service and Hospitality, Shopify blog and Disrupt Magazine, to name a few.
Spina met Vaynerchuk through mutual friends.
“Vaynerchuk is a big name in the digital world and he brings more than just investment,” said Joe Dales, co-founder and president of a food business and innovation center at RH Accelerator Inc. in London.
“They have connections and infrastructure and it’s a big industry that has taken off,” he said of the food delivery business.
In the move downtown Ethey also received support from the city’s Core Area Vacancy Reduction program to help full downtown office space. It received about a $15,000 incentive in buying the space and the investment is worth more than $3-million downtown, said Lakhotia.
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